The invention concerns a cyclone separator, in particular a cyclone pre-separator, for separating liquid and/or solid particles from a gas stream. The cyclone separator comprises a plurality of individual cyclones that, for separating the particles from the gas stream, each have a cell tube with a guide device wherein the guide device is designed to cause the gas stream to rotate. The cyclone separator further comprises a particle discharge for discharging the separated particles from the cyclone separator, wherein the particle discharge is arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the cyclone separator and wherein the at least one discharge direction of the separated particles is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cyclone separator and extends in the direction toward the particle discharge.
A cyclone separator embodied as a multi-cell cyclone that is serving as a pre-separator for an air filter is disclosed, for example, in the publications DE 10 2010 014 278 A1 and DE 10 2008 011 186 A1. Moreover, an air filter with a pre-separator configured as a multi-cell cyclone is disclosed in the publication WO 2009/106591 A2. In this connection, usually several individual cyclones are arranged on top of each other in the discharge direction of the particles.
The publications EP 2 052 659 A2 and JP 60-172371 A disclose cyclone separators with individual cyclones that are arranged at a slant above each other in the discharge direction.
In all of these known cyclone separators there is the problem that the separated particles deposit on the outer contour of the individual cyclones that are arranged downstream in the dust discharge direction and may accumulate in the cyclone separator, in particular on the outer contour of the individual cyclones, instead of being discharged through the particle discharge. This is a problem in particular in cyclone separators in which the particles are not additionally removed by suction.
Deposits of separated particles in the cyclone separator cause a significant reduction of efficiency and service life of the cyclone separator. For example, the particle deposits on the outer contour of the individual cyclones can grow upward toward the individual cyclones arranged above, viewed in the discharge direction, and the particle outlet openings of the individual cyclones arranged on top, viewed in the discharge direction, can become plugged or the particles can be sucked back into the cyclone cells.
Based on the above-described disadvantages and weaknesses, taking into account the discussed prior art, it is an object of the present invention to further develop a cyclone separator of the aforementioned kind in such a way that the separated particles are removed from the cyclone separator more reliably and deposits are prevented.